


she's not him

by wrennotrobin



Series: english prompts [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Competition, Gen, Other, POV Second Person, Presidential Election, Sexism, hey sexism, shit thats embarrassing for her, true story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 00:34:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30114423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrennotrobin/pseuds/wrennotrobin
Summary: another english prompt! (second person view of a moment in your life)
Series: english prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2216034





	she's not him

You’re in 5th grade. Excited for middle school, and nervous for the end. You don’t really know your classmates as well as you wish, but you do know one thing; everyone is way too competitive. By competitive, you mean like everything is a contest. Who can write the fastest, who can run the fastest, who got more 100% in math last week. To be honest, you’re very overwhelmed. How does everyone do it? You have trouble going to school and having a social life at the same time. But two people make it look far too easy. Two people who hold more social power over the graduating class than anyone else. You know both of them. Not well, but they’re more than acquaintances. There’s not really much of a difference between the two; both honor students, both sports all-stars, both on top of the social pyramid. They get straight A’s, score all the soccer goals, and have time to rule a school. Both are running for student body president. And you have to choose between two very skilled candidates. One’s a boy, and one’s a girl, not that it should matter. 

But it does. 

The girl: spelling bee champion all 6 years, virtually undefeated in anything academic. She is the portrait of a perfect student. She plays soccer and is the captain of one of the kickball teams. Well rounded, and taking mandarin.

The boy: a honors student as well, but lost to the girl many times in all things academic. Including the spelling bee all 6 years. He is the portrait of the perfect athlete. Hold the school’s mile record and shattered it by a good 25 seconds. He plays soccer and is the captain of another of the kickball teams. 

You sit back and observe the parallels in each of their lives. They’re great friends, which is expedited. They rule the school together. But they’re both highly competitive. You have spoken to both on multiple occasions, as a hope to see which is the better choice. But you’re still stumped. So you wait for the speeches. The boy is up first. He talks about his accomplishments as a student athlete, and how he’s amazing at karate. He’s funny and charismatic and would make a great leader. He ends his speech with a catchy slogan that makes everyone laugh.

But then the girl goes. Instead of talking about herself, she talks about what she would do for the school, unlike all the other speeches. Everyone’s was about their past, but her’s was a hope for the future. Hers is articulate and concise and cites many historical passages. Which goes right over the head of most of your classmate’s heads. The teachers adore it though. And you can see right then and there that she would win if it was up to the teachers. But it’s not up to them.

You vote for the girl.

And wait.

You see them emerge from the principal’s office. Her head is held high and her shoulders are back. But you see the remnants of tears in her eyes. And then you overhear the principal discussing the results. She lost by one vote. 

By a single one.

Her friends come and congratulate her, saying that she deserved to win and she smiles and shakes her opponents hand. He laughs and you see him whisper in her ear about how he would be consulting her for multiple things. You watch as the day goes on and her mood doesn’t seem to be that affected. The boy on the other hand seems very nervous. He’s talking to the recently announced members of the student council and there are wary glances back at his opponent. 

Flash forward to the first meeting.

You’re waiting outside the library, hoping to check out a book by your favorite author. As everyone exits the room, you watch the newly appointed secretary glance longingly at the girl on the playground. They're good friends, and have been forever. You approach her, and ask what’s wrong. She smiles sadly and says, “She would have been better. But she isn’t him. I voted for him.”

You smile back and the stark realization of the minor difference between the two equally matched candidates come shining through.


End file.
